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(Hommel.)

H. F. HODGES.v

GONVBYER.

y Patented May 3l uw". E

TNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY l". HODGES, OF .\'E\V. YORK, N. Y.

coNvEYER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent4 No. 604,828, dated May 81, 189B.

Application tiled January 5. 1898.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HARRY F. HODGES, of New York, in the county ot' New York and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Conveyers, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to mechanism to be used in connection with conveyers for the purpose of keeping the carriers in line and in preventing any lateral strain from bearing s shows a part of a conveyer-chain, a guide or drivingwheel, and a part of one of the rigid 'fixed guidesor ways. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line X X of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 shows in front elevation the carrier device and parts of the conveyer-chains and the xed guides or ways. Fig. 4. shows one of the details.

The drawings show the application of the invention to a hoist in which the flexible partsconsist of two chains d d, passing around sprocket-wheels, of which the lower set only is shown at o'. A similar set of sprocketwheels is supposed to be placed at the top of the hoist, the power being applied to theshaft ofl either set. 4

The carrier, as shown, comprises two trays c c of a shape suited tothe articles or material to be hoisted or conveyed, attached to the chains d d by pins q q at the special links g g and supported at their free ends by struts e e. The' trays c c are connected bya brace h passing through them and squared or otherwis'eso keyed that it cannot turn in its b earings in the trays. The struts e e areifastened to the trays c c by pins i l,are connected together' at their lower extremities by a brace j, andv are fastened to the chains d d bypi'- joints, Jthe pins of which are formed by the extremities of the brace j, passing through sean no. 665.679. et@ man.)

the eyes of the special links g' g' and through the eye at the end of the struts e e. The trays c c, the struts e e, and the braces hj, together with certain rollers or sliding contact-pieces to be hereinafter described, constitute the carrier, which by. rotation of its' parts about the pin-joints at i t', g g, and g' g' can shape itself to the sprocket-wheels as it .passes around them. l

The guides, as shown, consist of two metal I-beams a a., parallel to the chains cl d. Insteadof I- beams any suitable met-al or wooden beams'may be employed, and the number of guides may be suited to the number 0i sliding contact pieces or rollers used, as hereinafter described. To the upper brace h an arm f is so attached by a key or other suitable device that it cannot turn on the brace. The drawingsshow the attachment as effected by an eye u and key p. The arm f passes between the adjacent flanges or faces of the guides a et. To the free end of the arnr a shaft m vis attached, provided with rollers b, designed when in action'to bear against those faces of the guides a a, which look away from the carrier and which will herein after be called y theI rear faces of the guides and to roll upon vthe same either by rotation on the shaft m 'or by rotation of the shaft min its bearing in the arm f. The rollers b b are shown as confined on the shaft 'm by collars o o and pins fn, n., Anysuitable method may be employed. Instead of the rollers.b b alternative sliding contact-pieces may be used,-designed when Vin action to bear against therear faces of the 'guides a. a and to slide alongV the same. In-

stead of attaching the rollers b b or alternative slidingcontact-pieces to the brace h by the arm f they may be attached to any portion of the upper part of the carrier or to the flexible member near the point of attachment of the tray.

To the lower brace j two rollers b' b areattached, designed when in action to bear against those faces of y'the guides a, a which look toward the carrier and which will hereinafter be called lthe front faces of the guides and to roll upon the same either by rotation on the brace j or by rotation of the brace in its bearings at g' g. The rollersJJ b' are shown in the drawings as rotating on the brace jand as securedon the same by roo v against the front faces of shoulders and collars Z Z. Any suitable attachment may be used. Instead of the rollers b b"alternative sliding contactpieces may be used, designed when in actionto bear the guides au. and to slide along the same. Instead of attaching the rollers b' b or the alternative sliding contact-pieces to the brace j they may be attached to any portion of the lower part of the carrier or to the flexible member near lthe lower point of attachment of the carrier.

The guides a a. may extend throughout the entire path of the carrier, but in general will extend through the loaded orupward branch of the path, being usually unnecessary on the unloaded 0r downward branch. When used only on the loaded or upward branch,

.the vextremities which first received the carriers as they passedV around the sprocketwheels r are shaped, as shown at t t t' tf', in

such manner as to lead the rollers `b b b b or the alternative sliding' contact-pieces readily and smoothly into the positions which they should occupy on the upward Vor-loaded branch of the path. j To do this, the guides near these extremities are divided, as shown at Vw w, and the halves tt, upon which' the upper rollers b b 'or-the alternative sliding contact-pieces arefdesigned to bear, are bent to the front away from the paths of these rollers or contact-pieces, while the halves t t', upon which the lower rollers b b or the alternative sliding contact-pieces are designed to bear, are bent to the rear away from the paths of these rollers or contact-pieces. A portion of the adjacent faces of the inside yhalves tt is also splayediu such manner as to lead the arm f smoothly into place.

When the chains d d or other flexible members are absolutely straight, there isla small amount of play between the rollers b b b b or thealternative slidingcontact-picces and the faccse'ofthe guides against which they bear when inaction.

While two chains only are shown, any suit-l able number maybe used with a correspond# ing number of sprocket-wheels, or instead of chains the flexible part of the hoist may consist of bands, ropes, or other suitable iexible members, actuated by drums, wheels, or pui leys adapted to the particular member used.

Instead of two trays,two struts,-and two and the lower part inward or toward the chains or other flexible members. When no guides' or contact-piecesare used, as is the casein the ordinary iiexible hoist or conveyer as now applied, there is nothing to resist this tendency except the tension in the flexible members due to the loads in action. In consequence the carrier tips until the moment of the stress in the upper and lower parts of the flexible member, which becomesA a broken line instead of a. straight one, equilibrates the tipping moment due to the load. This distortion is accompanied by danger of spil1 ing the load and by great increase of sti-ess in the flexible members. When guides-with rollers or alternative sliding con taci'fpie'cesl,v j

as hereinbefore described, are used, .the tipping is'restrained within the limits xed by.l

the play'allowed betweenthes'ev parts, and the stress in theexible niembersis redu fed to but Alittle more than the actual weigh of the load in action. f j HavingV thus described my invention, what I claim, and desireto' secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a conveyer of the class described,the' combination of fixed guides having front and rear faces, a conveyer-chain running near and parallel to said xed guides, and a carrier attached to said chain, said carrier comprising contact devices at its upper part adapted to engage the rear faces of the guides,

and contact devices at its lower partadapted to engage the front'faces of the guides, substantially as s et forth.

In testimony whereof I have' signed name to this specification, in thepresence of two subscribingwitnesses, on this 22d day of December, A. D. 1897iA v HARRY F. HODGES.

Witnesses:

,EX O. DIEZELSKI,

EMIL F. MAURN.l y 

